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LTE Categories


You may have heard the term “Cat” before when it comes to Ethernet cables (e.g. Cat 5, Cat 6), but what about when someone is talking about cellular? “Cat” refers to the category of a 4G LTE modem (5G does NOT use categories). 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a cellular technology in which both voice and data service can operate.

Categories are used to define the performance specs of the LTE device. They range from 1 to 22 and differ with regards to the frequency band support as well as the upload and download speeds they are capable of running. For example, Cat 1 modems can download at up to 10 Mbps (megabits), while Cat 22 modems are going to receive download speeds of up to 4 Gbps (gigabits).

Cat 3

Like Cat 1, the Cat 3 modems are generally carrier specific because of limited frequency band support. However, this is going to provide much faster throughput in comparison. Max download is 100 Mbps and max upload is 50 Mbps. Popular applications might be home or travel as well as small offices where only a handful of devices need to connect.

LTE Category

Max Download Speed

Max Upload Speed

Cat 1

10 Mbps

5 Mbps

Cat 3

100 Mbps

50 Mbps

Cat 4

150 Mbps

50 Mbps

Cat 6

300 Mbps

50 Mbps

Cat 7

300 Mbps

100 Mbps

Cat 11

600 Mbps

75 Mbps

Cat 12

600 Mbps

100 Mbps

Cat 15

800 Mbps

226 Mbps

Cat 18

1200 Mbps

300 Mbps

Cat 20

2000 Mbps

300 Mbps

Cat 22

4000 Mbps

450 Mbps